ProdPod, a Productivity Podcast

Veteran social psychology researcher and professor at Florida State University, Roy F. Baumeister, with journalist John Tierney, joined forces to write Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength [ http://amzn.to/1eTrs7h ]. This is supposed to be a definitive guide on self-control, which many consider the heart of personal productivity. If you can control your self, then performance improvement potential is a sky's the limit proposition, right? Well, here are the most salient points that I lifted from Dr. Baumeister and Mr. Tierney's book, so you can make your own decision on the matter.Willpower (or, self-control) undergoes something Professor Baumeister calls ego depletion, or the loss of self-control. Willpower is divided into four broad categories: control of thoughts, control of emotions, impulse control, and performance control. All willpower depletes from one reservoir for all tasks and is a finite source. And don't be overly confident in your willpower, as studies show it actually contributes to ego depletion. Front-load tasks that require high amounts of willpower. Things that replete and conserve willpower: sleep, foods with low glycemic indices, and making realistic goals.What matters with self-control is the exertion, not the outcome. If you struggle with temptation and then give in, you’re still depleted because you struggled. Also note that giving in does not replenish the willpower you have already expended. The key is to concentrate on changing a habitual behavior. Building self-control in one area seemed to improve all areas of life.Successful people use their willpower as a first line of defense to better arrange (that is, plan for) life's challenging situations so they default into predetermined paths toward success.Correction: In the episode, I mention incorrectly the subtitle as "Unlocking the Greatest Human Strength." It's on my Someday/Maybe list to go back and correct this episode!

Over the past decade I have heard people talk about their rising stress levels. More information, more responsibility and the same 24 hours a day to get it all in and done, respectively. What I don't see many people doing is distinguishing the unhealthy stress from the healthy stress. Much of what positively motivates us is stress not its absence. As Barry Lenson writes in his book, Good Stress, Bad Stress [ http://goo.gl/3zDTK0 ], there are two types of psychological stressors. He characterizes them as positive or negative using some practical criteria so I thought I'd share them. Bad Stress, as Lenson calls it, can be identified by the following traits: It stifles your creativity It distances you from dealing with conflict in a healthy manner It closes doors, metaphorically It saps you of emotional energy It makes sleeping feel less restful On the other side is what Lenson calls Good Stress, and can be seen as: Opening communication lines and deepening relationships Increasing your capacity for compassion Converting conflicts to solutions Motivating you to action Refueling your mental, emotional energy stores Think about the positive, productive sources of good stress in your life. How do you gravitate good (and bad) stress toward you in your work and life? How can you work to bring more good stress into your productivity at the most opportune times? How can you repel more bad stress?Remember, too much of any good thing is not likely. Too much any kind of stress can be limiting so don't bite off more than you can chew.In future episodes I look forward to covering how to further engage good stress in your productivity.

Over the past decade I have heard people talk about their rising stress levels. More information, more responsibility and the same 24 hours a day to get it all in and done, respectively. What I don't see many people doing is distinguishing the unhealthy stress from the healthy stress. Much of what positively motivates us is stress not its absence. As Barry Lenson writes in his book, Good Stress, Bad Stress [ http://goo.gl/3zDTK0 ], there are two types of psychological stressors. He characterizes them as positive or negative using some practical criteria so I thought I'd share them.Bad Stress, as Lenson calls it, can be identified by the following traits:It stifles your creativityIt distances you from dealing with conflict in a healthy mannerIt closes doors, metaphoricallyIt saps you of emotional energyIt makes sleeping feel less restfulOn the other side is what Lenson calls Good Stress, and can be seen as:Opening communication lines and deepening relationshipsIncreasing your capacity for compassionConverting conflicts to solutionsMotivating you to actionRefueling your mental, emotional energy storesThink about the positive, productive sources of good stress in your life. How do you gravitate good (and bad) stress toward you in your work and life? How can you work to bring more good stress into your productivity at the most opportune times? How can you repel more bad stress?Remember, too much of any good thing is not likely. Too much any kind of stress can be limiting so don't bite off more than you can chew.In future episodes I look forward to covering how to further engage good stress in your productivity.

Most days I awake feeling gratitude for having another day to be alive and that alone is motivating to get my day going energetically! However, there are days when things just don't go well. You've probably had those days, and will in the future. The opera of family, professional and personal life mess with our productive and contented mindsets. Well, in this episode, I'd like to offer three steps to restarting your productivity day when things aren't going your way. The most valuable aspect of resetting your day is to know when to do it. What is the criterion or the aspects of your current day that warrant your decision to hit the Day Reset button? If you know when the day needs to re-begin, whether that's because of distraction, procrastination or some other specific situation, it helps you put that list of conditions together so you know when to take action before the rest of your day is lost to inaction, worry or other unproductive, unhealthy paths. So, how will you restart your day? You must have an action plan template. For me, as an example, I have a checklist dedicated to my Day Reset and when I realize that I am going to restart my day, I access the checklist, copy it to my Tasks list, and start doing the tasks. I start with a specific music playlist, read some of my favorite pieces of poetry and literature excerpts for about 5-15 minutes, and then do a mini-review of my new day. I move what isn't going to happen today forward to other days, and I alert interested parties of the change. Then, I figure out what is going to happen today and make sure that it makes sense. This gets me going on a well-worn path to success in any day, but especially on days like this. At the end of your new day within a day, this is an important time to recognize the gratitude for your awareness to trigger your Day Reset, and to write down what caused you to initiate the Day Reset. With this information in hand, you can hopefully know what the standard operating procedure is for your life when this happens again. And, it will help you possibly know when to restart your day earlier or faster by knowing the telltale signs.

Most days I awake feeling gratitude for having another day to be alive and that alone is motivating to get my day going energetically! However, there are days when things just don't go well. You've probably had those days, and will in the future. The opera of family, professional and personal life mess with our productive and contented mindsets. Well, in this episode, I'd like to offer three steps to restarting your productivity day when things aren't going your way.The most valuable aspect of resetting your day is to know when to do it. What is the criterion or the aspects of your current day that warrant your decision to hit the Day Reset button? If you know when the day needs to re-begin, whether that's because of distraction, procrastination or some other specific situation, it helps you put that list of conditions together so you know when to take action before the rest of your day is lost to inaction, worry or other unproductive, unhealthy paths.So, how will you restart your day? You must have an action plan template. For me, as an example, I have a checklist dedicated to my Day Reset and when I realize that I am going to restart my day, I access the checklist, copy it to my Tasks list, and start doing the tasks. I start with a specific music playlist, read some of my favorite pieces of poetry and literature excerpts for about 5-15 minutes, and then do a mini-review of my new day. I move what isn't going to happen today forward to other days, and I alert interested parties of the change. Then, I figure out what is going to happen today and make sure that it makes sense. This gets me going on a well-worn path to success in any day, but especially on days like this.At the end of your new day within a day, this is an important time to recognize the gratitude for your awareness to trigger your Day Reset, and to write down what caused you to initiate the Day Reset. With this information in hand, you can hopefully know what the standard operating procedure is for your life when this happens again. And, it will help you possibly know when to restart your day earlier or faster by knowing the telltale signs.

In this episode, I propose a three-phase approach to assessing our digital clutter…an initial step to understanding that just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there and isn't affecting our personal productivity. === In Episode 43, I talked about digital clutter, and the reality that we are compounding digital information about ourselves on our computers, laptops, mobile devices and the Web each and every day. So, what should we do about this digital clutter (some of which we don't even have control)? In this episode, I propose a three-phase approach to assessing our digital clutter…an initial step to understanding that just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there and isn't affecting our productivity. I. Assess where you currently have data. (storage and likely majority of it is reference) First, you have digital information hanging out on several devices if you start to think about it For example, whatever device you're listening to this podcast, which may be your computer, laptop, mobile tablet, or smartphone, you have stored information about yourself. This includes passwords, profiles or personal metadata and files. Think about where you interact daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Visit your most often browsed websites, smartphone apps and electronics. Write them all down (or the ones with the most important information about you). You may want to write down next to them what information is stored and available to you. II. Assess where you currently create data. (working memory type items) Next, we need to assess where you currently create data. This may have begun in the first step as you realized that the places where you access information about you. However, you may have different applications at work and home that you regularly create data (think text documents, photos, video, and audio/music files). Don't stop there, though. If you volunteer, have a hobby, or work with analog data (vinyl records, microfiche, photo negatives and more), you may want to consider this part of your digital information. Also, don't leave out places that are temporary holding places for information, perhaps your desktop or in work-in-progress folders that may not be on backup drives or cloud storage accounts. II. Assess where others are currently creating data for you. (inboxes) Finally, applications, websites, financial institutions and more are collecting or collaterally making more and more information about you every day. This isn't to frighten you over privacy issues, but empower you to take control of that data, know where it is, and use it to your advantage should you desire. Review all the digital tools in your life and see whether or not they are creating information about you. If they are, take note of them and note if you can easily export or back up the data. With your new current digital inventory, you will now have the knowledge to start purging, organizing and harnessing the power of your digital data.   In future episodes, I will talk about some strategies to reduce digital clutter.

In this episode, I propose a three-phase approach to assessing our digital clutter…an initial step to understanding that just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there and isn't affecting our personal productivity.===In Episode 43, I talked about digital clutter, and the reality that we are compounding digital information about ourselves on our computers, laptops, mobile devices and the Web each and every day. So, what should we do about this digital clutter (some of which we don't even have control)? In this episode, I propose a three-phase approach to assessing our digital clutter…an initial step to understanding that just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there and isn't affecting our productivity.I. Assess where you currently have data. (storage and likely majority of it is reference)First, you have digital information hanging out on several devices if you start to think about it For example, whatever device you're listening to this podcast, which may be your computer, laptop, mobile tablet, or smartphone, you have stored information about yourself. This includes passwords, profiles or personal metadata and files. Think about where you interact daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Visit your most often browsed websites, smartphone apps and electronics. Write them all down (or the ones with the most important information about you). You may want to write down next to them what information is stored and available to you.II. Assess where you currently create data. (working memory type items)Next, we need to assess where you currently create data. This may have begun in the first step as you realized that the places where you access information about you. However, you may have different applications at work and home that you regularly create data (think text documents, photos, video, and audio/music files). Don't stop there, though. If you volunteer, have a hobby, or work with analog data (vinyl records, microfiche, photo negatives and more), you may want to consider this part of your digital information. Also, don't leave out places that are temporary holding places for information, perhaps your desktop or in work-in-progress folders that may not be on backup drives or cloud storage accounts.II. Assess where others are currently creating data for you. (inboxes)Finally, applications, websites, financial institutions and more are collecting or collaterally making more and more information about you every day. This isn't to frighten you over privacy issues, but empower you to take control of that data, know where it is, and use it to your advantage should you desire. Review all the digital tools in your life and see whether or not they are creating information about you. If they are, take note of them and note if you can easily export or back up the data.With your new current digital inventory, you will now have the knowledge to start purging, organizing and harnessing the power of your digital data.  In future episodes, I will talk about some strategies to reduce digital clutter.

You know the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would like have done unto you. Well, I think it needs an update for a modern era. Enter the Diamond Rule: do unto others as they would like done unto themselves. === I frequently throughout my youth heard about the Golden Rule. This universal dictum that said to do unto others as you would have done unto you. Of course, this adage, also known as the "ethic of reciprocity" dates back to the Ancient Babylonians and likely even before that. Over the years, I've found the Golden Rule (and it's sister, the Silver Rule) to be missing an element, perhaps lacking empathy. So, I've come up with what I've coined the Diamond Rule: do unto others as they would like done unto themselves. You see, in this day and age, it doesn't make sense to try and be so "me me me" about how to treat others. We can learn so much about others so quickly today. There's Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and, *gasp* asking the person how they'd like to actually be treated. One example of how I apply the Diamond Rule is by tracking how people with whom I interact actually want to be communicated. Want to know how I know? I ask them! It turns out that people appreciate not only being asked how best it is to communicate with them, but additionally when and how to best communicate certain types of information. For example, while I tend to write long email correspondence, I know that I best receive email messages in single-topic, bite-sized ones. If more people wanted to get responses from me, they would email me one email per topic. They'd make it easy for me to give a decision back to them with their question right at the beginning of the email. This way, I can be pondering what they want from me as I read through the supporting points in the email.  How do you best like to be communicated, and when, and in what format? How can you be a better communicator by making it a practice to ask others? Where else can you apply the Diamond Rule?

You know the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would like have done unto you. Well, I think it needs an update for a modern era. Enter the Diamond Rule: do unto others as they would like done unto themselves.===I frequently throughout my youth heard about the Golden Rule. This universal dictum that said to do unto others as you would have done unto you. Of course, this adage, also known as the "ethic of reciprocity" dates back to the Ancient Babylonians and likely even before that. Over the years, I've found the Golden Rule (and it's sister, the Silver Rule) to be missing an element, perhaps lacking empathy. So, I've come up with what I've coined the Diamond Rule: do unto others as they would like done unto themselves.You see, in this day and age, it doesn't make sense to try and be so "me me me" about how to treat others. We can learn so much about others so quickly today. There's Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and, *gasp* asking the person how they'd like to actually be treated.One example of how I apply the Diamond Rule is by tracking how people with whom I interact actually want to be communicated. Want to know how I know? I ask them!It turns out that people appreciate not only being asked how best it is to communicate with them, but additionally when and how to best communicate certain types of information. For example, while I tend to write long email correspondence, I know that I best receive email messages in single-topic, bite-sized ones. If more people wanted to get responses from me, they would email me one email per topic. They'd make it easy for me to give a decision back to them with their question right at the beginning of the email. This way, I can be pondering what they want from me as I read through the supporting points in the email. How do you best like to be communicated, and when, and in what format? How can you be a better communicator by making it a practice to ask others? Where else can you apply the Diamond Rule?

In Episodes 53 and 54, I gave a brief overview of my "Pull Method" for more productive relationships. And, in the last episode I discussed Collecting Data for More Productive Relationships. So, in this episode, I am covering some thoughts and questions on analysis and synthesis of productive relationship data.Full Transcript===>In Episodes 53 and 54, I gave a brief overview of my "Pull Method" for more productive relationships. And, in the last episode I discussed Collecting Data for More Productive Relationships. So, in this episode, I am covering some thoughts and questions on analysis and synthesis of productive relationship data.As part of a regular review, perhaps monthly, you should review your major relationship events I discussed in Episode 65 and review the emotions triggered by them. I recommend that you not have more than three emotions for each positive and negative event. I have seen a steep rate of diminishing return by the third emotion for any particular event.Next, some questions...Are you seeing any patterns you should address with a specific person? Are you seeing a pattern across all your major relationships? Perhaps something is occurring in your life which is causing these positive or negative patterns. What can you do to increase the opportunities of more positive events, and what can you do to mitigate the unhealthy patterns?A few questions to also ponder from Episode 54: what is the ratio of must-have relationships to those positive relationship events you're experiencing? Are there more not-good than feel-good contacts in your dossier system? Does the happiness of the people you listed correlate to your relative happiness in life?I'll close with this...Have perspective that your data collection and analysis is very subjective; so, where I would normally tell you that data doesn't lie, in this case, it can be very misleading if you collect solely with your emotional mind and analyze and synthesize exclusively with your logical mind. Consistent tracking and balanced perspectives will not lead you in a wrong direction. A fun project is to take the ten closest friends in your life, add up their annual salaries and take the modal average. Does it look familiar? 

In Episodes 53 and 54, I gave a brief overview of my "Pull Method" for more productive relationships. And, in the last episode I discussed Collecting Data for More Productive Relationships. So, in this episode, I am covering some thoughts and questions on analysis and synthesis of productive relationship data.

In Episodes 53 and 54, I gave a brief overview of my "Pull Method" for more productive relationships, so in this episode I am going to outline how I collect and analyze data to make sure I know how the people around me affect me. In this episode I'm going to discuss Collection. And, in the next episode, I'll cover Analysis. Full Transcript==> Did your parents ever tell you that you were hanging out with the wrong crowd? As youth, we don't realize sometimes how the people around us affect our development and our long-term life choices. It turns out, as several studies have reported, how happy the people are around you dictate quite a bit of your own happiness. In Episodes 53 and 54, I gave a brief overview of my "Pull Method" for more productive relationships, so in this episode I am going to outline how I collect and analyze data to make sure I know how the people around me affect me. In this episode I'm going to discuss Collection. And, in the next episode, I'll cover Analysis. Collection For many years now, I have kept what is called a dossier. For me, that's a digital repository of all the information I have about the most important people in my life, both personal and professional. You can simply store that information in the Notes field of your contact manager, while others may have a separate notebook (as I do in Evernote) dedicated to my personal contacts and Trello board dedicated to the people in my professional world (specifically for its Google Drive and Dropbox integration to attach files). Now, I have a base of information at my fingertips wherever I am when I need to address issues. For those GTDers out there, this isn't an @Agendas context. It's purely a reference file of information I find to be pertinent to that person, especially for major emotional events with that person. Did I just have an amazing meeting with that business contact and want to relate the experience? It goes in my dossier for them. Did I just have a fantastic dinner at my favorite restaurant with a good friend? Yup, into my dossier for that good friend it goes. The same goes for negative experiences. In Evernote and Trello, I select for each experience the "event" and one of a series of emotions tags that I've created for both positive and negative events. If you're using a manual system, just noting these emotions at the top of each event entry will work as well.

In Episodes 53 and 54, I gave a brief overview of my "Pull Method" for more productive relationships, so in this episode I am going to outline how I collect and analyze data to make sure I know how the people around me affect me. In this episode I'm going to discuss Collection. And, in the next episode, I'll cover Analysis.Full Transcript==>Did your parents ever tell you that you were hanging out with the wrong crowd? As youth, we don't realize sometimes how the people around us affect our development and our long-term life choices. It turns out, as several studies have reported, how happy the people are around you dictate quite a bit of your own happiness.In Episodes 53 and 54, I gave a brief overview of my "Pull Method" for more productive relationships, so in this episode I am going to outline how I collect and analyze data to make sure I know how the people around me affect me. In this episode I'm going to discuss Collection. And, in the next episode, I'll cover Analysis.CollectionFor many years now, I have kept what is called a dossier. For me, that's a digital repository of all the information I have about the most important people in my life, both personal and professional. You can simply store that information in the Notes field of your contact manager, while others may have a separate notebook (as I do in Evernote) dedicated to my personal contacts and Trello board dedicated to the people in my professional world (specifically for its Google Drive and Dropbox integration to attach files). Now, I have a base of information at my fingertips wherever I am when I need to address issues. For those GTDers out there, this isn't an @Agendas context. It's purely a reference file of information I find to be pertinent to that person, especially for major emotional events with that person. Did I just have an amazing meeting with that business contact and want to relate the experience? It goes in my dossier for them. Did I just have a fantastic dinner at my favorite restaurant with a good friend? Yup, into my dossier for that good friend it goes. The same goes for negative experiences. In Evernote and Trello, I select for each experience the "event" and one of a series of emotions tags that I've created for both positive and negative events. If you're using a manual system, just noting these emotions at the top of each event entry will work as well.

In this episode, I give you some food for thought on how plants' productivity is relative to your own and can help us be more productive. Enjoy! Extended transcript==> If you'd like to be more productivity, it behooves you to eat well, of course, to nourish your body's energy stores. But, as I recently realized, if you pay attention to plants not just as food or landscape design elements, as living creatures plants are amazingly productive. Here are nine plant-based productivity paradigms to ponder. Plants don't have "bad" days. Whether vegetable, flower or fruit-bearing bush, plants need balance. Imbalance in the amount of light, food, fertilizer, water and other conditions and plants' flowering or growth will be severely hindered...and it may kill the plant. Seasons clearly affect a plants' life, but it is taken as a natural response to the ebb and flow of Nature's resources as the planet rotates around the sun. Plants are a diverse kingdom. For example, the arctic poppy can withstand immensely cold weather and blossom. They understand that not every kind of plant is suited for every environment, and they specialize to suit their environment. Plants land in a location and make the best of their time given the resources they've been handed. It turns out that plants are stimulated by the human voice and the sound will induce growth without the plant every responding to you. It turns out that listening is one of the plant's greatest sensory skills to adapt to its environment. For most plants, staying hydrated is one of it's three most vital needs. Plants take a lot of deep breaths throughout its existence to intake nourishments and exhales deeply to get rid of what it doesn't need. Plants tend toward striking a balance between function and aesthetics through a constant testing process. It doesn't experience its current form as an end, but just another point in its continual journey. Plants' temporal existence is easily overshadowed by its legacy of being an integral part of human's primary support network. In 2007, a research study found that indoor plants contributed to reducing perceived stress, mitigating illness and increasing personal productivity! So, while you emulate and relate to the characteristics of productive plants, perhaps you should go buy a few indoor plants for your home office or work cubicle! 

In this episode, I give you some food for thought on how plants' productivity is relative to your own and can help us be more productive. Enjoy!Extended transcript==>If you'd like to be more productivity, it behooves you to eat well, of course, to nourish your body's energy stores. But, as I recently realized, if you pay attention to plants not just as food or landscape design elements, as living creatures plants are amazingly productive. Here are nine plant-based productivity paradigms to ponder.Plants don't have "bad" days.Whether vegetable, flower or fruit-bearing bush, plants need balance. Imbalance in the amount of light, food, fertilizer, water and other conditions and plants' flowering or growth will be severely hindered...and it may kill the plant.Seasons clearly affect a plants' life, but it is taken as a natural response to the ebb and flow of Nature's resources as the planet rotates around the sun.Plants are a diverse kingdom. For example, the arctic poppy can withstand immensely cold weather and blossom. They understand that not every kind of plant is suited for every environment, and they specialize to suit their environment.Plants land in a location and make the best of their time given the resources they've been handed.It turns out that plants are stimulated by the human voice and the sound will induce growth without the plant every responding to you. It turns out that listening is one of the plant's greatest sensory skills to adapt to its environment.For most plants, staying hydrated is one of it's three most vital needs.Plants take a lot of deep breaths throughout its existence to intake nourishments and exhales deeply to get rid of what it doesn't need.Plants tend toward striking a balance between function and aesthetics through a constant testing process. It doesn't experience its current form as an end, but just another point in its continual journey.Plants' temporal existence is easily overshadowed by its legacy of being an integral part of human's primary support network.In 2007, a research study found that indoor plants contributed to reducing perceived stress, mitigating illness and increasing personal productivity! So, while you emulate and relate to the characteristics of productive plants, perhaps you should go buy a few indoor plants for your home office or work cubicle!